The field of the invention is devices for treating surfaces of objects by means of electrical corona discharge. Such devices are particularly designed for treating foils which are commonly known and used.
Corona discharge treatment usually serves to roughen a surface thereby increasing the ability of that surface to become wet and adhere. This type of surface treatment has a broad range of application in the area of the production of photographic paper. With paper or foil, the discharge electrode can be arranged in a fixed manner and the paper or foil can be guided over a grounded roller which is positioned opposite to the discharge electrode. Treatment which uses discharge electrodes is more difficult if the surfaces to be treated are three dimensional. In the automobile industry, for example, panels have been glued onto automobile body flanges for quite some time. Since the body must be enameled before gluing the panels, the automobile body flanges are also enameled. This leads to adhesion difficulties for the glue. Previously, material which enhanced adhesion was sprayed on. This, however, is inconvenient and leads to soiling of the area surrounding the body flange. Treatment of the body flange by corona discharge has until now not been undertaken because of the complex shape of the body.